Centre cancels licences of NGOs headed by Sonia

The Centre has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) two NGOs headed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for alleged violation of laws, officials said on Sunday.

The action came following investigations carried out by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the Union Home Ministry in 2020. “The FCRA licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust have been cancelled after investigations against these NGOs,” an official of the home ministry said.

The investigators covered alleged manipulation of documents while filing income-tax returns, misuse of funds and money laundering while receiving funds from foreign countries, including China, officials said.The probe team comprised officers from the ministries of home and finance, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), besides the ED, and was mandated to investigate if these trusts run by the Gandhi family and other Congress leaders allegedly manipulated any documents while filing tax returns or misused and laundered money received from foreign countries, they said.

The BJP welcomed the government’s action and said the Gandhi family and organisations linked to them can’t be above law. Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, however, slammed the NDA government’s move and said the cancellation of FCRA licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust is a symbol of political malice of the Modi government.